Rock-loving mouse

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Rock-loving mouse
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Muridae
Genus: Mus
Species:
M. saxicola
Binomial name
Mus saxicola
Elliot, 1839
Synonyms[1]
  • Leggada cindrella Wroughton, 1912
  • Leggada platythrix subsp. sadhu Wroughton, 1911
  • Leggadilla gurkha Thomas, 1914
  • Mus platythrix subsp. gurkha (Thomas, 1914)
  • Mus platythrix ssp. ramnadensis (Bentham, 1908)
  • Mus platythrix subsp. sadhu (Wroughton, 1911)
  • Mus ramnadensis Bentham, 1908
  • Mus spinulosus Blyth, 1854

The rock-loving mouse (Mus saxicola), also known as the brown spiny mouse, is a species of rodent in the family Muridae. It is found in India, Nepal, and Pakistan.[1]

The following description has been given by Sir Walter Elliot and reproduced in Jerdon's 'Mammals':

"the brown spiny mouse lives entirely in the red gravelly soil in a burrow of moderate depth, generally on the side of a bank. When the animal is inside the entrance is closed with small pebbles, a quantity of which is collected outside, by which its retreat may always be known. The burrow leads to a chamber in which is collected a bed of small pebbles on which it sits, the thick close hair of the belly protecting it from the cold and asperity of such a seat. Its food appears to be vegetable. In its habits it is monogamous and nocturnal''.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Molur, S.; Nameer, P.O. (2008). "Mus saxicola". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2008: e.T13979A4377160. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T13979A4377160.en.
  2. ^ "Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon".